JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM. Winner of the prestigious Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

CHRISTMAS EVE MASSACRE AT THE SAO?




Some 34 years ago on October 20, 1973, at the height of the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon fired the Attorney General of the United States (Elliott Richardson) , and then the first Assistant Attorney General of the United States (Williams Ruckelshaus) until he could finally find someone at Justice who would agree to his demand to fire the Independent Prosecutor (Archibald Cox) who was appointed to investigate Watergate. Eventually, as the ranks of the Justice Department thinned and a senior janitor became acting attorney general for awhile, Solicitor General Robert Bork, who never met a constitutional provision that he did not believe was subservient to the executive branch, followed orders, and fired Cox.

The incident was called the Saturday Night Massacre and it was arguably the greatest Constitutional Crisis this nation has ever faced ( until the unfortunate day the names Bush and Cheney meant something.)

Now comes word that on late Friday afternoon, December 21, 2007, came an unprecedented house cleaning at the State Attorneys Office as upwards of five assistant state attorneys and one secretary have been reported fired (or asked to resign) for indiscretions ranging from nolle prossing cases in county court in exchange for donations to a court run Toys for Tots program, to the more nefarious and indefensible accusations of sexual harassment.

We humbly nominate this black day in SAO history to be forever known as the Christmas Eve Massacre, if in fact this occurred.

We do not have independent and verifiable proof of the incident. We leave that to the more journalistically credentialed individuals (like our own favourtie Oh Susannah). All we have are persistent rumors. The blog is back on moderation and we request that anyone who has proof email it to us.

Until then, we shall be monitoring the situation.
The Blog was not on moderation over Christmas and several readers named names. Perversely, the law is apparently that we are not responsible for comments on an unmoderated blog. However, the law be damned, we shall not allow names to be named until we are 100% certain that the allegations are true. We have gone back and removed the comments. Upon verification we will post names and details.
See You In Court.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps Rundle needs to bring back her television show so people can call in and ask what's going on.

Here is a clip of an old article:


Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle is Channel 35's hostess with the mostest
By Jim DeFede
Published: February 16, 1994

Move over Oprah, Phil, and Geraldo, there's a new talk-show host in town and she's playing to rave reviews. "Hello," she says kicking off her weekly, Monday-evening chatfest, "I'm Katherine Fernandez Rundle, state attorney for Dade County. Welcome to From the State Attorney's Office." In an age where just about anyone can get their own talk show -- and just about everybody has -- Rundle is in the midst of a 26-week run on Channel 35, one of Dade's public access cable stations.

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1994-02-16/news/dade-state-attorney-katherine-fernandez-rundle-is-channel-35-s-hostess-with-the-mostest/

The URL above will take you to the full article to read the rest.

That was what? Four terms ago? Perhaps time to return to the basics again.

Anonymous said...

From my understanding only three Assistant State Attorneys were asked to resigned and the rest were place on some kind of suspension. (2 Felony ASA resigned, 1 county court ASA resigned, 2 or maybe 3 county court ASA place on suspension or probation

Anonymous said...

It's my understanding that the neither the Court the the prosecutor may agree to drop charges in exchange for charitable donations... no matter how worthy the cause. This is especially true for COURT sponsored charities. Quite simply, you can't use the power of the court to extract charity.

On the other hand, This is apparently done all the time. A victim will "agree" to a nolle prosse if the perpetrator consents to a charitable donation. This brings us back to square one: Nolle prossing cases in exchange for donations to a court run Toys for Tots program is a make-weight excuse.

Batman said...

Rumpole,

Knowing how I respect you, I am loath to admonish you for your lack of mathematical skills, but 1973 and 44 equal 2017. I believe you meant 33. Don't make those of us who remember Watergate like it was yesterday older than we already am

Anonymous said...

There were a lot of rumors years ago about Herb Walker's treatment of female interns. This was widely known throughout the office. Even to the point where some of the interns were supposedly moved to different divisions. Furthermore, Herb has the biggest head in the world. it is rumored that Herb even told a former prosecutor that he was getting a tv gig because of his Veggie case.

Anonymous said...

i would bet that these firings are legit. the sao doesnt fire nearly as many people as they should and when they do act someone has really steeped in it

Rumpole said...

RUMPOLE CONFIRMS the following: 1-Batman can add and we cannot. 2-HERB WALKER the pious prosecutor who tried cases with an holier than thou attitude was "asked to resign" in the face of sexual harassment allegations.
3-a female secretary was fired for sexual harassment allegations.
4- A County Court Massacre occurred in Judge Karen Mills Francis's division with a senior DUI prosecutor FIRED in a Toys for Tots scandal and some others suspended without pay and all prosecutors "re-assigned"

5- a Prsecutor in Judge Leband's division FIRED for plea related issues.
More to come.

Anonymous said...

Rump
Shouldn't it be called the Solitice Massacre. Give the Druids, Aztecs & Mayans their due, Dec 21st the 1st day of winter, the true yuletide and noel ( w/ an umlought ie .. )
D.Sisselman

Anonymous said...

Weclome to the Club Herb!

Anonymous said...

Ms. Rundle is, without any doubt, the most incompetent, most compromised State Attorney in this County's history. It is time for someone to run against her and effect a true housecleaning.

Jack Thompson, Attorney

PS: And, no, it's not I.

Anonymous said...

The ASA from Leban's division who was reportedly fired, Antonio Jimenez, was one of the most fair and decent State Attorneys I have ever dealt with. He was always sharp and prepared. It is a shame that the State is letting him go. He was perhaps too reasonable to be an ASA. Bennet, you should hire this kid. Herb, on the other hand......good riddance to bad rubbish. I love to see a holier than thou phony knocked off the high pedestal he has placed himself on for so many years. He was an unfair, unreasonable, bully who got off on putting his own people in the can. Don't let the door hit that fat ass on the way out Herbie.

Anonymous said...

Re: 1973 "Saturday Night Massacre"

The successive firings of attorneys general was not illegal and never arose to a "massacre" figurative or otherwise. The special prosecutor Archibald Cox served at Nixon's pleasure. This was before the later passed independent counsel laws. You may disagree with Nixon's actions on a political level but on a legal level, they were clearly proper. And some perspective: Eliot Richardson was a close friend of Cox who selected him for the position to begin with so his refusal to fire him is understandable. Ditto Ruckleshaus who was Richardson's assistant. Your tarnishing of Bork as a senior janitor is unfortunate. Rump, you violated a cardinal rule of a litigator: do not let disagreements over substantive legal and political issues become fodder for personal attacks. It makes you look petty. Bork was and is a first rate legal mind. Not to mention a first class human being.

Anonymous said...

The resignation letter from old Herby is a laughter. He is the evil in society!

Anonymous said...

looks like ROSSBACH II. who where her attorneys who took kfr down in federal court some yrs ago? looks like they may be needed again!!!

Anonymous said...

KFR never takes action against her higher ups who do a lot worse. Look at Patty and the former Sex Batt director.

Donations for a KNP on BS cases (i.e. bad DUI's that should not even be a careless driving or mere traffic infraction, $10 thefts of bubble gum by a 16 year old, marijuana residue cases that cannot be proved, etc.) are great deals for all parties.

Unless it is court MANDATED (not suggested), then a donation could be a fair resolution and usually is best. As a prosecutor I did donations all the time. A donation is better then extracting large settlements in DUI or battery cases in exchange for a breakdown or non-jail plea. And I know some of the alleged "best ASA's" in the eys of our loving and caring SA Kathy, did it ALL the damn time.

Commodore said...

12:46

Who knew G. Gordon Liddy was a reader of the blog?

Charlotte Welcher said...

Purchase not friends by gifts; when thou ceasest to give, such will cease to love. nice post and thanks for sharing...